Wind Energy and renewable energy blog

Multi – Tasking Wind Turbines

One company has realised that because wind turbines are usually prominent and visible there is a potentially huge market selling advertising space on the structures. When I first looked at WePOWER’s web-site I was horrified – how dare they contaminate the pureness of renewable energy with corporate slogans. Having given the idea some further thought however, it is not such a bad idea – in the right place.

UK DIY Store Forced to Pull Wind Turbines From Shelves

People in the renewable energy industry have for some time been sceptical about the effectiveness of small -domestic scale wind turbines in urban areas. DIY store B&Q starting selling the Windsave 1KW turbine in 2006 for £1900 and at one point it reached their best selling product status in terms of value. However people who bought the product on the basis of claims that turbines could save you 30% off your electricity bill started to raise questions about their effectiveness.

UFO Stories Surround Damaged Wind Turbine

A wind turbine located in the east of England lost a blade on Sunday with a second blade being seriously damaged. An investigation is currently being carried out on the site operated by Ecotricity.

The cause of the damage is currently unknown but wind speeds were not exceptionally high. A neighbour to the wind farm claims to have seen mysterious lights that night prompting stories of UFO’s.

Wind Energy Questions – How Noisy are Wind Turbines?

Whenever we talk about noise we often think of unwanted sound for example vehicles, factories, snorers and all those other anti-social forms that we have to share our world with. We rarely refer to the waves in the sea or a babbling brook as noise but as “natural sounds”.

Whether it is human made or naturally occurring, virtually everything that moves will result in some sound. Wind turning the blades of wind turbines results in sound just as the wind moving the leaves in trees. Modern wind turbines are however generally quiet in operation, and compared to the noise of road traffic, trains and aircraft, the noise from wind turbines is very low.

Case Study – Stand-alone 6kW Wind Turbine (Proven)

Interview with Bob Bridges
Since B&Q and other retail outlets started to sell micro – renewable technology in their stores, the debate as to whether different technologies are productive has escalated rapidly in the press.
Bob Bridges did his research and constructed a “stand- alone” wind turbine to provide electricity for his farm in Cornwall. [...]

How Wind Turbines Work

The basic components of a wind turbine are as follows:

1. Rotor – three blades, mounted on a hub – typical rotor diameters are 80 90m for today’s larger machines. Blades are usually made from Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) and incorporate lightning protection measures. The picture below shows a single blade being transported to a wind farm site.

Little or Large Wind Farms to Meet our Targets?

“Estimates show there’s more than enough renewables developments either up and running or in the pipeline to potentially meet the 10 per cent goal.” (10% electricity from renewable sources by 2010)

The Government’s latest statement in the Independant gives an optimistic outlook for meeting our renewable energy targets.